As the current members of Team USA skated for Olympic gold medals in Milan this month, two retired competitors have made a home here in New York City to help coach the sport’s next generation.
Karina Manta and Joe Johnson spent five years as ice dance partners on Team USA before retiring from competition in 2019. They then travelled with Cirque du Soleil’s ice show and competed as pros on the UK television show, “Dancing on Ice.” Now, the pair coach at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink.
The duo may have met on the ice, but their close friendship has remained constant since they first met thirteen years ago.
“I feel really grateful that we still have a relationship to the sport where we love it and we still skate together,” Manta said. “Even without that competition, it’s something that we enjoy and want to participate in.”
But finding an ice dance partner isn’t easy. Skaters often have to uproot their lives and move to a different state or country to train with a partner. Manta — who moved away from home at 16 to live on her own and train with her first partner — said the training process is like a never-ending group project.
In 2013, Manta and Johnson were both training in Colorado Springs after their previous partnerships had ended when Manta’s coach sent a Facebook message to Johnson’s coach.
“It was funny, because I was on the brink of quitting,” Johnson said. But after the two tried out together, they decided it was a match and officially began their partnership.
Anyone can skate, regardless of identity
After Manta publicly came out as bisexual in 2018, the duo became the first openly LGBTQ+ team to compete for Team USA. In ice dancing, there is often an assumption that there must be a romantic element between partners.
Johnson said he doesn’t understand the “pearl-clutching around the idea of two women or two men skating together,” as same-sex pairings are not permitted to compete in the United States or international competitions.
While competitive figure skating is traditionally known for its strict adherence to gendered stereotypes, Manta and Johnson said they have seen tangible progress in terms of queer representation in the sport. Recently, Amber Glenn became the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to represent the United States in Olympic singles figure skating at the current games.
“I do fundamentally believe that skating is for everyone,” Johnson said, with Manta adding, “and that it can be really empowering.”
As coaches, the duo love to help inspire their students — who range in age from three to 81 — to discover the joy and fun in skating.
Growing up in the sport can be demanding — Manta began skating at six, and Johnson at eight. Johnson said that it’s important to understand the responsibility a coach has when helping develop a young skater’s skills, and to encourage a strong sense of bodily autonomy.
The pair especially loves teaching adults looking for a new hobby, to learn to skate, and to help them grow confidence and fall in love with the sport.
“To be with these people who are just first stepping on the ice and are afraid of it, and then to see by the end that they’re comfortable and they can come skate for fun makes me feel like I’m a magician,” Manta said. “I treasure that I get to be a part of that.”
